The explosive growth of cable television service (CATV) and other coaxial data transmission services has involved the installation and maintenance of large networks of coaxial cables. Although coaxial cables are generally easier to install than AC utility wiring, maintenance and revision of existing coaxial cable networks can be extremely tedious.
In most coaxial cable systems, a large number of cable runs extend to a central junction box for connection to a common source such as a main cable line or the like. Unlike telephone wiring, coaxial cable are generally not provided with color coding or any other form of identifying indicia. This factor makes difficult the removal, repair, or rerouting of coaxial cables in many installations. Generally speaking, when it is necessary to trace a coaxial cable from a junction box to a customer installation, a technician secures a short circuit cable terminator to the customer end of the cable, and then sorts through the maze of cables at the central junction box. A volt-ohm meter is connected to each of the ends of the cables in the junction box, and the technician reads the meter to determine which junction box cable end is connected to the particular customer end. A non-associated cable end will produce a resistance reading of substantially infinite resistance; the correct, associated cable end will produce a reading of approximately 75 ohms. This procedure, which invovles connecting and disconnecting the VOM to a large number of cable ends and making a visual meter reading for each one, is extremely tedious and time consuming.